Sad. But our old cars are going to mean nothing.

[ACUDANUT]

The current generation of (18-25) and earlier ages only see cars as a means of transportation.  Take a look of the vehicles on the road today. Toyotas are Kia's are killing us.  These kids could care a less about  old muscle cars and the old saying of "buy American, be American is gone)...Japan's motto is (Buy Japan "be Japanese")...Where has our world gone.  We have failed. PEROID.
JAPAN is killing us and no one seems to cares anymore.

[JB400]

We got sold out, and most of the manufacturing jobs that put the young generation to work went overseas, and with it, disposable income.  Bring back the jobs, people have more money, and maybe they'll take an interest in our older cars

[nvrbdn]

 

[b5blue]

Not so. They don't have 30 grand to start a project, give them time to make some coin. 

[Troy]

From a different perspective... if American car companies made anything halfway interesting the kids might have a different outlook. I turned 16 in the 80s so, naturally I gravitated to 60s muscle cars because there wasn't a thing made from the early 70s until then worth having! And that trend followed through the 90s. Really, we had the Grand National and the Mustang finally got some balls back in the late 80s and early 90s. The last Camaros and Firebirds were starting to regain their old glory before they were killed in 2002. I did own a turbo Capri (the one that looked like a Mustang not the one that looked like a Miata) and a Fiero a little later on. Even the foreign cars - including the exotics - through that era weren't awe-inspiring except for the RX-7 twin turbo and Supras. So that 30 year complete lack of anything interesting/performance related is what got "the kids" into modding up Civics (Honda) and 240SXs (Nissan) that no one else wanted. It's also why the muscle cars just keep maintaining/gaining value. There's 50 years of drivers all fighting for the same cars. Be happy there aren't millions more kids trying to buy our cars.

Most kids that I know these days don't even want a car. Except my coworker's son (to her dismay) has been crazy about cars for a few years. He's currently bugging me with helping him find an old 280Z project. He's practical in trying to find a car he thinks is "cool" but also within a budget he can sustain. He's also checked out some Triumph Spitfires and other small convertibles but he's aware they are all gutless. He's already looking into engine swaps just so he can drive a reasonable speed on the highway.

I currently have six Toyota 4x4s. Pretty much bullet proof if you can keep them from rusting here in the Midwest. Cost for parts has gone down drastically since I started buying them while the Chrysler dealer just keep trying to screw me. Trying to find a Ford or Dodge truck made since the 80s around here is tough! The Fords have engine issues, Dodges have electrical and suspension issues - if you can find either that isn't rusted in half. GMs are about the same but I don't follow them closely.

Worldwide Toyota is #3 behind VW and Renault/Nissan and bigger than GM and Ford (although both are ahead in the US market). So, technically, Americans are still buying American - but that may be propped up by the cost of imports. Toyota markets their vehicles in 190 countries. If you ask me, American car companies dropped the ball - not the consumers.

Troy

[Ryan.C]

Not so. They don't have 30 grand to start a project, give them time to make some coin. 

Truth. I just turned 30 when I had enough cash to buy a relatively clean 69 charger.

[nvrbdn]

Well, as far as the old muscle car popularity is going, It isn't just the young crowd. Go check out a car show. I just went to the drive-in car show and movie. Over 60% of the cars were new. Then I went to the VFW show last weekend. They have more classes for the new cars than the old ones. Over 100 cars there. Classes were for all makes up to 55, 56-69, 70-79 and 80 up. stock and another of the same for modified. Then they had the corvette classes 2 truck classes and the rest of the 26 classes were for new cars. These new cars are owned by people 58 and up. My buddy mike has a 2016 Challenger. He is 59. Terry is 63 with a new mustang. Rows of new Camaros and Corvettes a Hell Cat and 2 Vipers. All turn key. They don't work on them. They just clean them. They walk around the show to see what categories the other cars got into so they know what to list their car in. Again the numbers are over 60% new cars at the show. I see maybe 6 young kids with their rice burners there cleaning and getting ready for the judges. The older group is leaving the old cars behind and buying the new cars. I see the love of the old Muscle cars ending soon.

[SSmoothie]

Most people don't have cash or a credit line to purchase a classic car but can get approval for a new car loan so you see a lot of the new cars at some shows.

[alfaitalia]

As said above....if you built many cars worth buying and priced them right then the young'uns would buy them. This is not just me getting at the US car builders...its the same here. The difference is that the Japanese and other far Eastern nations have already pretty much killed our car industry stone dead. It started going downhill in the late 70s and early 80s....the Unions killed our car factories...even if they will never admit it....too many strikes to try and get pay rises that no one could afford and they usually never got anyway crippled investment and development. That put buyers in a position where they bought an imported car that was cheap, far more reliable and better to drive....or pay over the odds for some rust prone poor handling crap built here....I know what I would have done too....if I had been old enough top drive back then!!!
You guys are lucky enough to still have a big car building industry....but the cars don't appeal to the young drivers.....and not just over there....for a big business you don't export much as your cars are very much styled to US tastes whereas Japanese, Korean....and even German cars are styled to appeal to a much more universal tastes. The only US cars that ever sold in volume here is the Jeep range....now FIAT of course. Old shape Chrysler 300c (with its old style Bentley look) sold great too...then the new version came out looking like a very American car....sales fell flat on their arse. The only volume selling US built car here now in the Mustang (Unfortunately, due to fuel costs most are not V8 5.0 but V6s or the lame 2.2 four one ....a four cylinder Mustang...really!???).

Going back to the original post....I strongly disagree. Classic cars....not just old cars but the elite few that made their mark or changed the way people look at of buy cars...will always be sought after.

Japan and Korea may be killing you....and if you don't build cars the kids want....then is more like suicide than killing....I know....the mass produced car industry here is already all but dead.....and we have no one to blame except ourselves. Hopefully you wont let your car industry go the same way.....and no Mr Trump....massive import duties on an imported metal and cars is NOT the way to do it. You need a level playing field....or your homegrown companies will never be forced into improving productivity, cutting costs, or making a better car that appeals to US buyers young and old.

[440]

It's only a matter of time till the greens and social momentum destroy the classic car hobby.

Just like the confederate flag, same sex merriage, straw ban, plastic bag ban it's only inevitable till our cars become too dangerous or hazardous for the planet.

The green party put forward a proposition to ban all cars older than 2002 and ban all fossil fuel cars by 2030.

It's really not hard to do either, look at Japan for example. All the government has to do is raise tax or registration on older cars to the point nobody can afford it. In California I had to pay "gross polluter" tax..... it's only the start.......

[alfaitalia]

Luckily even in our nanny state the government has recently promised to leave classics alone....in fact recently they dropped road tax and annual safety check (MOT) for all car over 40 years old....obviously it will still need to be in a road legal condition if stopped! Obviously this has nothing at all to do with lots of Member of Parliament and the House of Lords owning classics........Such a small % of the cars on UK roads are high polluting classics that's its not really a problem in the grand scheme.
The green thing is always a big issue in overpopulated Europe and UK. As you probably know, no new petrol (Gas!) or diesel powered vehicles will be allowed to be sold after 2040 in the UK...electric or nothing. But fossil fuel cars will not be banned....they will just be allowed to reduce through natural decay, wastage and damage. There are already a lot of cars fully powered by electric on the roads in the UK...and more each day....so by 2040 it wont be much of an issue. Just makes me laugh that the all electric cars say "Zero Emissions" on them. In this country more than half our fuel is still generated by burning fossil fuels....one of the highest  pollution sources in the world!!....that's hardly Zero Emissions! But at the rate wind farms are springing up around our coast even that wont  be an issue by them. Also had to laugh at the recent list of least reliable cars sold in the UK....third from bottom??? TESLA....what were we saying about the desirability of US cars??....also they are most expensive electrics cars you can buy in the UK so they should be better.
Full electric cars will be much more of an issue for you guys at the moment.....dues to the huge spaces between your cities and the ability to recharge....but with some prototype electric cars claiming close to a 1000 mile range its only a matter of time before that problem disappears.
Its a difficult one for me...I love fast, dirty, dino powered cars, new and old....but also I want a World that's habitable for my boy and (one day) his kids. Does not seem an easy way to have both.

[krops cars]

I remember in the late 70's and early 80's I was a kid and guys saying how expensive the model t's and a's were. Now you can buy them done cheap.

[Aero426]

More than anything, this is a generational issue.      Young car enthusiasts have always pursued the dream cars of their youth and from the posters on their walls.       This applied to our fathers.    It applied to us.   And it applies to the next generation.  

Because the cars are flashy, visceral and in our lifetime should remain quite user friendly,  there will be some future adopters of 1960's muscle.   The cars will not be worthless.   But all collectibles have  values that ebb and flow.     We don't live in a static world.     It is reasonable to expect that as we get older and age out of the hobby that fewer new enthusiasts are coming in.      You can see this any any car show today by the age of the participants.     The high price of admission to classic muscle today certainly limits young people coming in. 

[70 sublime]

30 some years ago while attending car shows / flea markets I thought look at all these gray hair people with these old cars
Always thought it should be a younger crowd with the energy to build and enjoy these toys

Now I am the one getting gray hair but all the kids are now done post secondary schooling and I have spare money again to play with

Think it is all about timing and when you end up with spare money

Cars will always be around to tinker with and as long as we have some kind of fuel to burn the best stuff ( all Chargers  ) will survive well into the future

[Troy]

About the shows... the kids in the ricers aren't likely going to a show full of stuffy old people - not matter what they are driving. Try going to one of their shows and see how well you like it.

Troy

[Ponch ®]

The current generation of (18-25) and earlier ages only see cars as a means of transportation.  Take a look of the vehicles on the road today. Toyotas are Kia's are killing us.  These kids could care a less about  old muscle cars and the old saying of "buy American, be American is gone)...Japan's motto is (Buy Japan "be Japanese")...Where has our world gone.  We have failed. PEROID.
JAPAN is killing us and no one seems to cares anymore.

Wrong decade bro. Japan was the big monster we feared in the 80's and 90's. The boogieman du jour is China.

More than anything, this is a generational issue.      Young car enthusiasts have always pursued the dream cars of their youth and from the posters on their walls.       This applied to our fathers.    It applied to us.   And it applies to the next generation.  

Because the cars are flashy, visceral and in our lifetime should remain quite user friendly,  there will be some future adopters of 1960's muscle.   The cars will not be worthless.   But all collectibles have  values that ebb and flow.     We don't live in a static world.     It is reasonable to expect that as we get older and age out of the hobby that fewer new enthusiasts are coming in.      You can see this any any car show today by the age of the participants.     The high price of admission to classic muscle today certainly limits young people coming in.  

Yep..as cars from those generations become rare and more desirable, prices skyrocket. You old farts with money that are willing to pay six figures for a matching numbers Charger R/T are pricing out us younger guys out of even the lower end of the market (try finding even a decent 318 Duster for less than $5-6K). That's why you don't see many young guys buying classic muscle nowadays, unless it was "dad's car" and now its theirs or if they have a money tree like Cody  .

In any event, you nailed it with the generational thing. That's why Fox body mustangs, RX7s, Honda CRX's, and other imports are getting expensive. Those "kids" are now in their 40's and have money to get the car they always wanted.

[ACUDANUT]

The current generation of (18-25) and earlier ages only see cars as a means of transportation.  Take a look of the vehicles on the road today. Toyotas are Kia's are killing us.  These kids could care a less about  old muscle cars and the old saying of "buy American, be American is gone)...Japan's motto is (Buy Japan "be Japanese")...Where has our world gone.  We have failed. PEROID.
JAPAN is killing us and no one seems to cares anymore.

Wrong decade bro. Japan was the big monster we feared in the 80's and 90's. The boogieman du jour is China.

More than anything, this is a generational issue.      Young car enthusiasts have always pursued the dream cars of their youth and from the posters on their walls.       This applied to our fathers.    It applied to us.   And it applies to the next generation.  

Because the cars are flashy, visceral and in our lifetime should remain quite user friendly,  there will be some future adopters of 1960's muscle.   The cars will not be worthless.   But all collectibles have  values that ebb and flow.     We don't live in a static world.     It is reasonable to expect that as we get older and age out of the hobby that fewer new enthusiasts are coming in.      You can see this any any car show today by the age of the participants.     The high price of admission to classic muscle today certainly limits young people coming in.  

Yep..as cars from those generations become rare and more desirable, prices skyrocket. You old farts with money that are willing to pay six figures for a matching numbers Charger R/T are pricing out us younger guys out of even the lower end of the market (try finding even a decent 318 Duster for less than $5-6K). That's why you don't see many young guys buying classic muscle nowadays, unless it was "dad's car" and now its theirs or if they have a money tree like Cody  .

In any event, you nailed it with the generational thing. That's why Fox body mustangs, RX7s, Honda CRX's, and other imports are getting expensive. Those "kids" are now in their 40's and have money to get the car they always wanted.

Really, what cars are made in China ("The boogieman du jour is China. ")
  I was talking about the newest generation of 18-25.  Where did I mention 40 plus. ?  Cars are nothing but a mode of transportation in their eyes with MPG on their mind.  This hobby of our is dying quicker than you think.

[nvrbdn]

About the shows... the kids in the ricers aren't likely going to a show full of stuffy old people - not matter what they are driving. Try going to one of their shows and see how well you like it.

Troy

We actually have several young kids showing at our shows and have foreign car classes. I respect these kids because they get up early and clean their cars just like the old guys do. At our dare show there were about 20 of them.  Now I did show up for a "cruise the river road" run put on by some young people and I was the outsider. The only muscle car there. They never did leave the parking lot before I got tired and headed out on my own. They were happy with just sitting in the parking lot and looking at each others cars.

[Ponch ®]

The current generation of (18-25) and earlier ages only see cars as a means of transportation.  Take a look of the vehicles on the road today. Toyotas are Kia's are killing us.  These kids could care a less about  old muscle cars and the old saying of "buy American, be American is gone)...Japan's motto is (Buy Japan "be Japanese")...Where has our world gone.  We have failed. PEROID.
JAPAN is killing us and no one seems to cares anymore.

Wrong decade bro. Japan was the big monster we feared in the 80's and 90's. The boogieman du jour is China.

More than anything, this is a generational issue.      Young car enthusiasts have always pursued the dream cars of their youth and from the posters on their walls.       This applied to our fathers.    It applied to us.   And it applies to the next generation.  

Because the cars are flashy, visceral and in our lifetime should remain quite user friendly,  there will be some future adopters of 1960's muscle.   The cars will not be worthless.   But all collectibles have  values that ebb and flow.     We don't live in a static world.     It is reasonable to expect that as we get older and age out of the hobby that fewer new enthusiasts are coming in.      You can see this any any car show today by the age of the participants.     The high price of admission to classic muscle today certainly limits young people coming in.  

Yep..as cars from those generations become rare and more desirable, prices skyrocket. You old farts with money that are willing to pay six figures for a matching numbers Charger R/T are pricing out us younger guys out of even the lower end of the market (try finding even a decent 318 Duster for less than $5-6K). That's why you don't see many young guys buying classic muscle nowadays, unless it was "dad's car" and now its theirs or if they have a money tree like Cody  .

In any event, you nailed it with the generational thing. That's why Fox body mustangs, RX7s, Honda CRX's, and other imports are getting expensive. Those "kids" are now in their 40's and have money to get the car they always wanted.

Really, what cars are made in China ("The boogieman du jour is China. ")
  I was talking about the newest generation of 18-25.  Where did I mention 40 plus. ?  Cars are nothing but a mode of transportation in their eyes with MPG on their mind.  This hobby of our is dying quicker than you think.

What do you have against Japan anyway?

[Alaskan_TA]

I am over 50, but still a kid at heart.

If you want someone to appreciate your 'old' ride when you pass on, feel free to add my name to your will.   

[Dino]

Who cares? You'd have to be dead first for it to affect you...and at that point nothing will!

With everything that's going on in the world, what cars kids care about if any is seriously my last effin' concern.

[Kern Dog]

OP needs a "full release" massage to clear his head. WHO is willing to take one for the team? 
I can see the point  but I don't see it as gloomy as the OP does.

[RallyeMike]

For a couple decades vintage muscle continued to rule. Now that you can simply buy car that is faster (and more comfortable,...... and more fuel efficient,..... and safer,..... and full of gadgets,... and you don't have to work on all the time....), why should we be surprised that there is lessening interest in old iron?

[AKcharger]

HI Everyone!

[John_Kunkel]

The current generation of (18-25) and earlier ages only see cars as a means of transportation. Take a look of the vehicles on the road today. Toyotas are Kia's are killing us.

Don't agree, look at the aftermarket for performance/custom parts for those rice grinders; that belies the claim that the youth only see cars as transportation.

And the fact that they're buying rice leaves the muscle/collectors for us old farts; win/win.